Subject: Stuffed Mushroom Caps
From: valerie
Date: 12/13/2022, 10:17 AM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
On 12/12/2022 10:02 PM, valerie wrote:
Dear Uncle Phaedrus,
I am looking for a family recipe I have forgotten part of and
my sister has wrong. Our mother made this lovely side dish every
Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. It is served over Wild Rice.
It is creamed stuffed mushroom caps, stuffed with butter mixed
with parsley, tarragon, dry mustard, a bit of cayenne AND the
question- chives, shallots, scallions??? Or no onions??
I just can't remember.....
Please help if you're able.
Thank you,
Valerie
Santa Fe, NM
Hi Valerie,
I spent several hours this morning looking at recipes for "stuffed mushrooms" and "stuffed mushroom caps." I had no success at all in finding a recipe that matches your list of ingredients.
I must say that your ingredient list seems incomplete compared to the recipes at which I looked. All but two of the ones that I found had at least one stuffing ingredient that was more substantial than anything you list: seafood such as clams, shrimp, lobster, fish ; meat such as hamburger, sausage, bacon, ham; rice or wild rice (actually in the stuffing); vegetables such as spinach or artichokes; bread crumbs or stuffing mix; or nuts such as pecans , almonds or walnuts. Yours has onions, but out of the dozens of recipes that I've looked at, only two had nothing substantial in the stuffing other than some form of onions. Also, you say "creamed stuffed mushroom caps", but you don't list any cream or milk.
The two recipes that I found with no substantial ingredients other than some form or onions are below. They aren't your recipe, but they might give you an idea of the kind of onions your recipe called for.
This is the best I can do without better clues like a unique name for the recipe or the original source of the recipe. I will post this for reader input, but it will be a month before it appears.
Phaed
Marvelous Stuffed Mushrooms Ingredients
Directions
1 pound large fresh mushrooms
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
4 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 dash ground nutmeg
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Remove stems from mushrooms; set caps aside. Finely chop stems.
In a small mixing bowl, combine the butter, flour, onion, parsley,
mustard, salt, cayenne, nutmeg and chopped stems. Fill mushroom
caps. Place in a greased shallow 2-qt. baking dish. Pour cream
over mushrooms. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees F for 30-35 minutes
or until mushrooms are tender, basting twice.
-----------------------------------------------
Julia Childs' Stuffed mushrooms
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
12 fresh mushroom caps 2 to 3 inches in diameter, stems removed
2 to 3 Tb melted butter
A shallow, lightly buttered
roasting pan
Salt and pepper
Brush the mushroom caps with melted butter. Place
them, hollow-side up, in the roasting pan. Sprinkle
lightly with salt and pepper.
Stuffing:
3 Tb finely minced onions
2 Tb butter
1 Tb oil
3 Tb minced shallots or green onions
Stems from the mushroom caps, finely minced and squeezed in a towel to
extract their juice
Saute the onions in butter and oil for 3 to 4 minutes
without browning. Then add the shallots or green
onions and mushroom stems. Stuff the mushroom caps with this mixture.
Saute until done.
----------------------------------------------------
Dear Uncle Phaedrus,
I am very grateful for your time and energy you put into this hunt.
I, of course, left out the whole recipe- brain surgery.
Stuff the caps, bake in a 350 oven for about 30 minutes, pour cream
to cover it, down the side of casserole dish . Heat dish to just before
cream boils.
It does seem very plain without onions, so I'll make it with them..
Thanks again, Valerie
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RE: Particular Stuffed Mushrooms Recipe
From: Toni
Date: 9/5/2023, 3:08 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Hi,
I just ran across your website while I was searching for an old recipe and
saw this request for help with a family recipe.
https://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/m010623f.htm
While I don't have the exact recipe she's requesting, I think I might be
able to help her head in the right direction. This sounds like a traditional
Italian baked mushrooms in cream recipe. Usually it's served at holiday meals
and I enjoyed it many times at the home of a wonderful Italian friend in PA.
For the basic recipe you mince the mushroom stems, a small onion and a clove
of garlic. These are sauteed in a skillet over low heat in a small amount
of butter. When the onion is soft and translucent, you add 1/4 cup white wine
(for 1 lb of mushrooms) plus tarragon, parsley and, in my recipe, basil.
Saute another 10 minutes to cook off the alcohol, then stir in 1 cup of fine
bread crumbs. Add salt and pepper to taste.
That mixture goes into the mushroom caps which are baked at 325 for 45 minutes.
At the end of 45 minutes, add 1 pint heavy cream and bake another 15 minutes
at 350, or till the edges are just beginning to bubble.
My friend took it a step further. She cooked another clove of minced garlic
in a small amount of butter, then stirred in another 1/4 cup white wine.
Simmered till almost evaporated, and then she stirred in her heavy cream and
took it off the heat to wait till the mushrooms were baked and ready for
topping with the cream sauce.
I'm hoping this will help your reader figure out her own family recipe,
because once you eat these mushrooms you never forget them. They are divine!
Humbly yours,
Toni
